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Earlier this year (2016), Richard Longenecker published his long-anticipated commentary on Romans. The Epistle to the Romans (New International Greek Testament Commentary). The commentary is a titanic coming in at 1,140 pages total. His primary interlockers are C.K. Barret, C.E.B Cranfield, James D. G. Dunn, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Robert Jewett, Ernst Käsemann, Douglas J. Moo, Arthur C. Headlam, William Sanday, and a host of others. (Scholars enjoy sparring with other scholars. Unfortunately, most of them ignore the insights of those... Read more

The following is a guest post written by Daniel Passini. Enjoy! — Giving is one of the hallmark signatures of any follower of Jesus. Well, at least it should be. Too many times though we wait for a program, an organization, or a drive of some sort to move into action. Why not get to work on our own? Why not be proactive in your own ability? It’s not the job of the government to take care of those in... Read more

One of the many books I’m using as a source for my revised version of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, due to release in the future, is The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament within Its Cultural Context by Gary Burge, Lynn  Cohick, and Gene Green. This is a masterfully crafted survey of the New Testament. It’s colorful, substantive, and Paul’s letters are arranged in chronological order (an uncommon plus). Context is hugely... Read more

As most of you know, Mary DeMuth was my co-author for my latest book, which was a bestseller. The Day I Met Jesus: The Revealing Diaries of Five Women from the Gospels hit the CBA bestseller list at #2 out of all books and #1 in Christian Living the month it released. In the Preface of that book, I made the statement that Mary is the best Christian fiction writer on the planet. So if you read Christian fiction, you’ll... Read more

One of the many books I’m using as a source for my revised version of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, due to release in the future, is The World of the New Testament ed. by Joel Green and Lee Martin McDonald. This is a superb book. Coming in at over 600 pages, it covers the cultural, social, and historical context of the New Testament. Chapters are written by a battery of scholars and historians. The book covers... Read more

I’ve stated before that I regard Craig Keener to be the world’s greatest New Testament scholar as it concerns the first-century background to the New Testament. Craig has just released a new book with his wife Médine called Impossible Love. I rarely endorse books, but I endorsed Craig’s new book. Here’s what I wrote: “What happens when the world’s greatest New Testament scholar pens his incredible story with his wife in riveting prose? You get Impossible Love. Captivating and candid,... Read more

Rusty George has just released a new book called When You, Then God: 7 Things God is Waiting to Do in Your Life. I caught up with Rusty recently to discuss his new book. Enjoy! Instead of asking, “what is your book about,” I’m going to ask the question that’s behind that question. And that unspoken question is, “how are readers going to benefit from reading your book?” Rusty George: I believe that people will feel the freedom to see... Read more

One of the many books I’m using as a source for my revised version of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, due to release in the future, is E.P. Sanders new book Paul: The Apostle’s Life, Letters, and Thought. Like most the work of most scholars of Sanders’ stature, the book can stop a freight train. Dense, but readable. Mammoth in its treatment. For many years, Sanders has written extensively on Judaism (Second Temple Judaism in the first... Read more

Today’s post was written by Barry Cram. Enjoy! — I love this quote from Helen Keller.  “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” We all have dark times in our lives, and it is nice to have a friend there beside us.  Really good friends have weathered a few storms and seen some water under the bridge.  Those kinds of friendships take time and commitment.  Even through the rough times, true friends... Read more